Alex Jordan, Instructor, Portland Community College
Disability Area: Topic Area:
Length of Session (in hours): 1-hr
Format: Lecture
Expertise Level: All Levels
Type of session: Not provided
Summary of Session
In 2011, Portland Community College (PCC) developed Accessibility Guidelines for Online Course Content in collaboration with Instructional Support, Distance Education, Disability Services, the Web Team, the Library and Faculty. In 2012, Math faculty were given release time to investigate accessibility of content generated by instructors, as well as that which was delivered by homework management systems. WeBWorK fared better than the commercial systems.
Abstract
In 2013, PCC established our own WeBWorK server to ensure our community had access to a powerful adaptable homework management system that is more usable to more people more of the time. Math content is rendered using MathJax which allows for MathML output. The instructor has the ability to modify content directly to address any accessibility related barriers. Because it is open source, the institution also has the ability to make appropriate changes to the container and propose those modifications for merging with the main WeBWorK repository.
xml authoring allows for parallel production of .tex, .pdf, .brf, .html and other formats as needed. We envision using xml to author OER “textbook” materials to use alongside WeBWorK, offering a free open source "complete package" alternative to what commercial publishers are currently offering.
Kepoints
Faculty led accessibility studies and collaborative support are powerful mechanisms for institutional change.
WeBWorK can provide an accessible alternative to commercial online math learning systems.
Alternative course designs, integrated study skills, and use of multimedia notes can improve access.
Speaker Bio(s)
Kaela Parks
Kaela Parks, Ed.D . is the Dean of Accessible and Inclusive Education at Portland Community College. She is a former Co-Chair of the AHEAD Standing Committee on Technology, a past Chair of the NASPA Disability Knowledge Community, a past President of ORAHEAD, and a current member at large on the AHEAD Board of Directors. She was lead trainer for a FIPSE demonstration project aimed at supporting adjunct faculty on rural campuses in the implementation of Universal Design, and was co-editor of the publication titled "Beyond the ADA: Proactive Policy and Practice for Higher Education." She frequently offers trainings and presentations on a variety of disability and accessibility related topics.
Alex Jordan
Alex Jordan has been a mathematics instructor at Portland Community College since 2009. He varies the courses he teaches, ranging up and down the precollege- and college-levels that PCC offers. Since 2010, he has been involved with the movement to bring the open-source homework platform WeBWorK to PCC. As WeBWorK is an open-source platform, Alex, along with others at PCC and nationwide have been able to make WeBWorK a leader in web accessibility among such platforms. Alex also teaches a course on the typesetting software LaTeX, which plays a central role in the development of accessible OERs. Alex has a PhD in mathematics from the University of Oregon.